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QATAR PETROLEUM
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lotsa



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 68
Location: Oman

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:35 am    Post subject: QATAR PETROLEUM Reply with quote

I have read numerous posts on this board about QP (most of them dated 2006) and indeed most of them in the negative. That was last year. Time for an update. Have things changed at QP? Are there any teachers out there who can constructively critique their RECENT or even better CURRENT time there. I am starting this post seeking uptodate info. I am not after smarta** non-related posts by those posters out there who seem to delight in wrecking a thread by posting innocuous comments (having said that the poor sods will be here in droves!).

Current offers on the slab for QP as an English teacher is:

1. 11000 p/mth
2. free single occupancy accom (all utilities paid)
3. shared car
4. 2 return tickets to original departure location per year
5. free medical
6. free club membership
7. one year contract

Keep it respectful, truthful, rational and realistic please.

Psst: If you don't what to post a reply, you are welcome to PM me Smile
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lotsa



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 68
Location: Oman

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I take it then your responses are based on actual personal experience with QP recently?
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lotsa

Even if you assume Alphabet is exaggerating and only posting the negatives, this has been the description of the situation here on the board for the last few years, and as you said so it was in 2006. This is a place where the posts have been overwhelmingly consistent for a very long time. Why would you expect much would have changed at the end of the 2006/2007 year end?

QP remains what it has been for a long time... a place for those that can't get a job anywhere better. Or for those that need an income quickly as they seem to always be hiring because of the turnover of teachers. But, they do pay you and provide a roof over your head. So, that means that they aren't the worst employer in the Gulf.

I'd say that Alphabet has covered the negatives, so let's see if anyone comes on and declares that there has been a miracle since January... Laughing

VS
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QatarChic



Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 445
Location: Qatar

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:58 pm    Post subject: It's really about Direct Hires V Contractors Reply with quote

I know people who work at QP both as contractors as well as those on a direct hire contract. Of course there are little if no complaints from those on a direct hire; they get bonuses every once in a while and are content with their salaries and allowances. Instructors get:

15500QR per month with a 10500QR allowance if you are married or
6/7000 QR if you are single. School fees are paid for their children and so on....Senior instructors are on even more...

The people who are/have been contractors i.e. through Griffith say (as alphabetgamma pointed out) they get given the more difficult classes (less motivated students and so on) accomodation in a less than suitable building, exit permits are issued late (Some as late as 3 hours before the flight!) the sponsor is very difficult to deal with and so on, bank accounts are limited

Contractors fall into different categories, those:

-who are very laid back and take whatever comes their way and see it as a chance to save money so work for a year or so
-who think that if they work hard they will be given direct contracts the following year (this has happened/does happen but rarely)
-who are used to more flexibility, structure and so on just get frustrated and leave. This has hapened a lot in the past 6 months btw and Imtiaz (Local sponsor in Doha) have been advertising locally for teachers here in Doha thus cutting out the middle man (Griffith). The situation is very desperate there.

There are lots of complaints but they mainly come from contractors- which is understandable, why can't they all be given direct hire contracts??

There are one or two advantages to working as a contractor, they are able to work as hourly paids elsewhere like at the BC etc or work as IELTS Examiners and so on- something that is NOT ALLOWED as a direct hire.

I think my advice to those who want to work at QP is if you are able to take such hassle etc then come for a year, if not try and work elsewhere like at the QAC (They recently got given an increase to just over 10500 and moved into spacious apartments- the atmosphere there is pleasant and laid back), the Language Training Institute (which is part of the Ministry of Education- salaries there are around 13000 or more per month, free accomodation with 60 days plus annual leave- but the downside is that the teaching is in the evenings) or if you have an MA then at the Qatar Foundation...

Hope this helps...
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
a place for those that can't get a job anywhere better
Hey!!! Not true. I had loads of offers after I left QP. I guess people in the know think if you survive QP(18 months in my case) You can survive anything.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Poor dmb, you are misinterpreting. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Laughing

I didn't say that it would dead-end anyone that worked there. Just that it is a job with so many negatives that one should only go there if one is desperate for job, and don't have or can't wait for a better offer.

It is not only bad teachers who end up having to take this sort of job. Even good teachers end up unemployed at inconvenient times. It is often people who come from another part of the world with differing academic calendars.

VS
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had fun in Doha but it was nothing to do with QP.

I had a great bunch of friends at QP and away from QP.

Having a good circle of friends makes or breaks a place.

Until the management system and their attitudes gets overhauled it will be a prison sentence for any western teacher.



btw Is Malachy still in town. If so send him my regards.
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QatarChic



Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 445
Location: Qatar

PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Right on! Reply with quote

alphabetagamma wrote:
QP doubles your salary, you won't go back!


Speaking of salary- rumour has it that it will go up to 13000QR from January 2008 (shows you how desperate the situation is there)

Quote:
Is Malachy still in town



Malachy is still here and doing well
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biffinbridge



Joined: 05 May 2003
Posts: 701
Location: Frank's Wild Years

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:10 pm    Post subject: erm Reply with quote

I was a contractor through QAC and then went Direct Hire on a married status contract;my working life didn't change a bit but my salary and bens changed a lot.
I taught firemen and security guards for nearly 3 years...I now gaze at my navel a lot and stare into shop windows.
dmb is a great bloke ...sorry can't make it out there right now mate but congrats and all that!!When you gonna have ginger kids??Smile
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bcnbound



Joined: 14 Oct 2006
Posts: 14
Location: Europe

PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I stumbled across this if it's of any interest to anyone

http://www.mrtefl.com/frmJobDetails.asp?id=2004

Trully shocking Shocked
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MIKEBUCHAN



Joined: 18 Mar 2007
Posts: 106
Location: Russia

PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:29 am    Post subject: ? Reply with quote

bcnbound -- I read, with interest, the letter at that web site!!!!!!

It seems that Nadeem is still the same bully! And GSSG is still a criminal cartel!
Nadeem tried to get a $600 USD bribe from me for my RP -- and in the 6 months that I was there, I never did get a Residence Permit! However, when I complained about the bribe --- I was the evil western greedy nasty etc etc person!

September '06 to March '07 was enough for me! I took the 6 month leave tickets and went home and never said anything and never looked back!

Qatar is an OK place - you can visit the entire country and see all the sights in two weeks - twice. I'd consider going back - but - never with anything to do with the two mafias that run QP training!

I wrote a post about these guys a while ago. I listed everything that went wrong at the housing, main office and with the recuriter from Griffith! I was assigned to the 'bakery' in Maeseed and never could get my gas money back either!
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What should we make of a place where the instructors have given the main training centre the nickname THE GULAG ?
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wilberforce



Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 647

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We love the Gulag. It's our home away from home.

http://www.griffith.edu.au/griffith-english-language-institute/programs-courses
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wilberforce



Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 647

PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It sure is. It's a good place to work if you can handle the krappe (good old Dutch word that English took on) and other dumb stuff. We get a car and gas allowance. The students are usually nice. The accomodation has improved. That smoke belching generator outside my illegally constructed old apartment building almost killed me; my new place is a big improvement. My first accomodation was the best but in those days they spent money on housing.

There was a big pow-wow last week so we're all waiting with baited breath to find out what's going on. Imtiaz looks set to leave and Griffith is supposed to stay under a new sponsor. We're all waiting for our vacation coming up soon. I miss that old Henty favorite which he used to sing at this time of year. All the old timers must remember that...
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wilberforce



Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 647

PostPosted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
It's a good place to work if you can handle the krappe (good old Dutch word that English took on) and other dumb stuff.


I swallow my pride and eat turd pie. After hearing of the results of the big pow-wow where they have decided to get rid of almost half the teaching force, I will now say that it's a bad place to work. IMITIAZ the subcontractors are on their way out by the end of December. The QP chiefs decided to get rid of as many of as they could before moving into the new purpose built premises out near Aspire Zone. They are clearing us out with no regard for our achievements, our personal lives and our situations. It's too late for some of the fired teachers to find another job. Our vacation begins on August 1 and some people just got notice that they've been fired. More notices are supposed to be handed out tomorrow. It's absolutely disgusting. People are paranoid. The treatment of loyal Gulagers is abyssmal. I should have read Solzenitshyn more closely!!!

This place is now the pits in my book and I may turn in my notice if I don't get my head put on the chopping block with the next lot of victims.
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